Friday, 4 May 2012

First time when we went toItaly, we travelled around , well not all over Italy but we did went to couple of places as we where there for 15 days.
And when we were in Rome we went to this shop filled with lots of goodies and there we bought few packs of sundried tomatoes ,and when we came back home I added some into olive oil and from that time onewards I always have a bottle in my kitchen shelf.

And then we went back to Rome as a specail treat for Shyama as she got 18 and we went back to the same shop and bought a whole load of sundried tomatoes.

I do have to admit they are almost finished ( well still have two packs left).

So the first trip we went, Hans took us the second evening to a restaurant as he had been to this place during one of his concert trips and according to him the food was super yumm.
I do have to agree to him, the food there was so good that we went back to the same place couple of evening and then when we made the trip to Rome again we went to the same place again for few times, so the last evening we went to this place again and the owner of the shop offered us free drinks as she said you all have been comming here so many times.
But then Hans would disagree he would say she only gave the free dirnks becaus he was so charming to her :-) and to that I replied to him you cann be charming as much as you want as long as I get free drinks :-)

Ok so this Rosemary-Sundried pasta I ate there and I fell in love with it and I remember ordering it again while we went there.
When we got back home I wanted to recreate the dish here at home and that is exactly what I did.
So the recip is not from a book or magazine , I just created it according to how it tasted when I ate it.
Oh and it is really good as I have been laking this pasta for the last 3 year

Another reason to have this post is because Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen, which I am certain most of you will know her through her wonderful and beautiful blog, is starting with photography Excersie.
Which I think is a wonderful idea, and every month she will be giving new excercise.
So if you are intrested in improving your photographic skills which I am sure you all are, then do participate.
You will find the information here

I do have to say I took the pictures before I read the whole post in detail, so I didn't use a tripod. So you can see the two pictures are not taken in the exact position that will teach me to read the whole detail than hurrying up with the project.
The left side pic f / 4.5 , Shutterspeed 1/125s and ISO is 200
The right side pic f / 2 , Shutterspeed 1/ 500s and ISO is 200

I always take my pictures near to a huge window, especially as it is still dark and dull weather here so I get enough light , also use a white board on left side to reflect the light.

Now to the recipe.
For 3 person:
300 gm dry pasta
4 to 5 tbsp sundried tomatoes slices ( don't slice them thin, slice them in chunks)
Couple of sprigs of Rosamary ( you might think it is too much while you make the sauce it won't be, it is to flavour the sauce and while eating the dish you pick out most of it)
2 to 3 large onion chopped
6 to 8 tbsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves finley chopped
1 tsp chilie flakes or according to your taste ( i usually add more)
Couble of tbsp fresh parsley chopped
2 to 3 tbsp toasted pine nuts
Pepper and salt to taste
1/4 cup grated paremesaan cheese.More if you love cheese like in my family so i would opt for more :-)

Heat the oil in a pan, add the onions fry for few minutes add the chillie flakes and garlic and fry for a minute or two.
Add the rosemary and parsley, sundried tomatoes salt and pepper. Fry for few minute.

In the mean time cook the pasta according to the packet and drain , I always keep a cup of pasta water aside.
Add the pasta, few tablspoon of cheese and the pinenuts to the pan and mix everything together. If the mix is too dry add a couple of tbsp of pasta water to loosen it up.
Serve sprinkling with the parmesan cheese.I also usually add a tbsp of olive oil on each plate before serving too.

I am a bit late here. :)Your pasta looks gorgeous.And I love that green glass. Looks like the absence of the tripod wasn't a problem but it can hlpe get sharper photographs when using a slow shutterspeed.Thanks for joining us, Finla.